Developing Trust
It is clear that networks are held together by purpose, social capital plus mutual respect or trust. Generally held beliefs in the purpose – GIS, rural development, micro and homebased business, economic development - - of the network contribute to attracting and holding people in the collective. Social capital, or the stock or built-up reservior of good will that flows from different organizations working together for mutual productive gain no doubt is the “glue” that holds people together or the “motivator” that moves the process along. But in terms of what helps to steer networks, it is clearly trust, the obligation to be concerned with others’ interests, that allows for the network to do its work, select its leaders, keep its members, and most important to broker those decisions it must make.
To some degree, many network partners bring pre-existing trust-based relationships with them into the network. “Some of us have been working together for up to 30 years,” said one natural resource administrator. The author was repeatedly reminded that many of the state and federal officials work with one another in multiple settings: interagency funding awards committees, task forces, councils and consortia. In this way familiarity breeds subsequent understanding through prior/other work.
The process of mutual learning through exploration leads to additional trust. “As we educate one another we take advantage of diverse backgrounds.” When participants hear technical presentations by colleagues, or hear about others’ programs, they develop more than a passing level of understanding about them. One learns not only about the other agency and its